(Lindl.) D.K.Liu & Ming H.Li
Description
Cymbilabia undulata (formerly placed in Vandopsis) is an epiphytic orchid of the eastern Himalaya and adjacent areas, recorded from Nepal, north-east India, Bhutan, Myanmar and south-west China across some 129 georeferenced occurrences. It grows as an epiphyte on the trunks and larger limbs of trees in warm, humid subtropical to lower montane forest, favouring bright, well-drained positions. The Bhutan collection at Trashigang at about 1100 m reflects its preference for the warm subtropical belt, typically between roughly 700 and 1600 m, where seasonal monsoon rainfall and high humidity prevail.
It is a robust monopodial epiphyte with a stout, leafy stem and thick, fleshy roots. The leaves are distichous, ligulate to strap-shaped, coriaceous and unequally bilobed at the apex. The inflorescence is an axillary, branching raceme or panicle bearing numerous fleshy, long-lived flowers; these are yellowish marked with reddish-brown blotches, with spreading, undulate-margined sepals and petals. The lip is small, fleshy, three-lobed and saccate at the base, a diagnostic feature, and the column is short and stout bearing a waxy pollinarium.
The transfer from Vandopsis to Cymbilabia reflects molecular reassessment of the Aeridinae (subtribe of Vandeae), in which generic limits have been substantially revised. As with many Vandoid orchids, the showy resupinate flowers are adapted to insect pollination, and the dust-like seeds are wind-dispersed. Although fairly widespread, populations are vulnerable to habitat loss and orchid collecting; like all orchids the species is listed on CITES Appendix II, regulating international trade.
Author: (Lindl.) D.K.Liu & Ming H.Li · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of China, The Orchids of Bhutan (Pearce & Cribb), Genera Orchidacearum (Pridgeon et al.)